While preparing grilled hamburger meat patties, it is important that the meat is cooked uniformly, not undercooked or overburnt and also remains juicy within. The problem usually faced while cooking them is that the patties are cooked well on the outside but not cooked uniformly in the inside, especially the central portion of the patty. Another effect of the uneven cooking is that the hamburger patties shrink in the inner central portion. When the melted fat or grease from within the hamburger patty runs outside onto the charcoal, it causes a high flame that often results in blackening of the exterior surface of the hamburger patty. Also the grease accumulated on the external surface of hamburger patty makes it rather unappetizing and unhealthy to eat. There is also the issue of “charcoaling” of the hamburger patty which is caused by grilling with high flames.
Below are given some of the known prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,922 entitled “Apparatus for cooking a food product” describes an apparatus for cooking a food product, for example a hamburger, comprising a mould assembly for cooking the hamburger. The mould assembly is formed from first and second moulds formed on upper and lower bodies. When the moulds are moved apart spaces between the side wall portions allow the hamburger to be easily removed. The apparatus aims for easy removal of the hamburger from the mould.
Patent CA2272151 entitled “PATISAFE” elaborates that hamburger patties that are prepared through mass-production must be well cooked but not burned and should also remain juicy. To ensure that the hamburger meat is well cooked, the amount of heat should be adjusted to the thickness of the patties. Another way to cook the patties properly is to adjust the thickness of the patties to the amount of heat available. The disclosed invention is based on matching the thickness of the meat patties to the amount of heat available from cooking facilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,552 entitled “Forming device for articles of food” describes methods and devices configured for forming exterior portions and interior portions of a food article so as to form a cavity for placement of similar or different articles of food therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,929 entitled “Barbecue grill cooking chamber with grease control structures” discloses a barbecue grill assembly comprising a cooking chamber with a cover and a firebox.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,634 entitled “Method and apparatus for making ground meat patties” discloses a household hamburger maker having a hollow, circular outer collar and a hand-held center plug. Ground meat is placed into the hollow area of the outer collar, and the center plug is inserted into the same hollow area and pressed down against the ground meat. While the center plug is being pressed down, it is also twisted alternately clockwise and counterclockwise, which produces a smooth top surface on the ground meat as it is shaped into a hamburger patty. While still being twisted, the center plug is pulled back up and away from the hamburger patty, leaving behind a correctly-shaped patty that has a smooth top surface.
Despite various improvements and progress in the field, some of the major obstacles that still exist are presented herein below. The existing devices are unable to overcome the limitations of providing a dome shaped hamburger patty cooked on a grill, which is uniformly cooked, does not exhibit “charcoaling” of the exterior surface, does not have fat or grease run off and accumulate outside the patty and is also juicy on the inside. Besides the existing apparatus are not simple to use or manufacture. Accordingly, improvements are needed in the existing devices that negate the above shortcomings.
It is observed that the purpose and methodology of all the above inventions that are part of prior art do not envisage the unique embodiment of an apparatus for preparation of dome shaped hamburger patty cooked by grilling, as described in the present application.
The scope of the invention is to be determined by the terminology of the following description, claims, drawings and the legal equivalents thereof.